If the characters [in a movie] aren't real, if their lives aren't realistic, if you call bullshit at any point in their journey, then the rest of it is invalid.

Sometimes identity can be your salvation. It can be liberating to find your place in the world, but at some point, identity can hold you back.

As a director, I try not to implement a way for working, for every single actor, across the board. I try to work with each one, on an individual basis.

As a person of color, I was just really tired of the fact that I wasn't seeing my story in the culture.

America is a different country, and it will forever be a different country, after the election of Donald Trump.

I love the art house, and when I say the art house, I don't just mean little, independent movies but movies that really aim to be about something and say something and I love those movies.

It is frustrating having to walk through America having to bob and weave people's impressions of me because they see a tall, black guy walking down the street. That is frustrating.

I love when scenes are intentionally and meticulously planned so we feel like this is a handcrafted scene that only works in this moment and this movie, and that's the way I approach my films.

Racism is wrong, racism is very dangerous.

Unfortunately, 'post racism' is also a myth, like unicorns and black people who survive to the end of a horror movie.

I can't believe there's a part of you that grows when you need it. You're like a mutant.""I'm a vampire, " Baz says, "and can you hear yourself?

The powe if fate is something terrible. It cannot be escaped--not with wealth or by war, not with a tower ir a sea-lashed black ship.

I'm tired of having to struggle for what seems to come easily to everyone else.

Divorce is just about change, you know. It's God saying, You need a change. And I'm going to make it so your bank account only has change.

Western man, especially the Western critic, still find it very had to go into print and say: "I recommend you to go and see this because it gave me an erection."

The only test of a soul's salvation is its inward happiness.

Maybe if you're playing in London or America, you don't feel that pressure quite as much.

Blackberry winter, the time when the hoarforst lies on the blackberry blossoms; without this frost the berries will not set. It is the forerunner of a rich harvest.

When Providence favors, you can make a safe voyage on a twig.

I don't consider myself just a black man. I consider myself a brotha. I love my people.